BellaOnline Forums Career Nursing Eating Your Young...

I, APPARENTLY FOR ONE, AGREE THAT WE NEED TO TREAT OUR NEW NURSES WITH RESPECT AND DIGNITY. WE SHOULD TRY TO MAKE THEM FINALLY FEEL WELCOME TO THIS THANKLESS PROFESSION. MANY OF US SOON FORGET THE TORTURE WE HAD TO ENDURE JUST TO GET THROUGH NURSING SCHOOL, NOT TO MENTION THE NUMEROUS UNCARING PRECEPTORS THAT WERE SUPPOSED TO BE OUR MENTORS AND HELP US MAKE THE TRANSITION FROM STUDENT TO NURSE. WELL, ALL SOME OF US TOOK FROM THOSE EXPERENCES WAS HOW TO BE UNCARING AND TAKE GREAT PLEASURE IN MAKING NEW NURSES FEEL UNWORTHY AND UNCOMFORTABLE. I WAS ONE OF THOSE NEW GRADS THAT WAS MADE TO FEEL LIKE "MAYBE I SHOULDN'T BE HERE, MAYBE I AM NOT SMART ENOUGH". THEN I THOUGHT... "TO HELL WITH THAT", I PULLED UP MY BIG GIRL PANTIES, WIPED MY TEARS AWAY, AND GOD SENT ME THIS ANGEL FROM HEAVEN OF A NURSE BY THE NAME OF PAT. PAT HAD WITNESSED THE AWFUL TREATMENT I HAD TO ENDURE EACH 12 HOUR SHIFT. SHE STEPPED IN AND TOLD OUR NURSE MANAGER THAT SHE WANTED TO PRECEPT THIS NEW GRAD...THANKS BE TO JESUS. FROM THAT DAY ON EVERYTHING WAS GREAT, ONLY BECAUSE NOW I COULD BE OPEN AND RECEPTIVE TO LEARN, NOT WITHDRAWN AND SCARED OUT OF MY WITS,I HAD RECEIVED ENOUGH OF THAT IN NURSING SCHOOL! PAT WAS NOT SOFT ON ME AND DID NOT MIND LETTING ME KNOW IF I WAS NOT USING CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS, OR WHAT SKILLS I NEEDED TO IMPROVE, OR IF I WAS JUST ACTING LIKE A COMPLETE IDIOT. I WELCOMED HER CRITICISM BECAUSE SHE ALSO LET ME KNOWHERE I EXCELLED AND THERE WERE MANY AREAS. THAT WAS ELEVEN YEARS AGO, AND BECAUSE OF MY FAITH IN GOD , AND THAT WONDERFUL ANGEL OF A NURSE THAT HE SENT ME I HAVE WORKED IN MANY AREAS. MY LATEST HOSPITAL POSITION WAS CLINICAL NURSE IN THE NEONATAL INTENSIVE CARE UNIT. I NOW WORK WITH THE CLEVELAND METROPOLITAN SCHOOL DISTRICT. I ALSO TEACH NURSING THEORY AND CLINICALS. I ONLY HOPE THAT I CAN BE THAT ANGEL OF A NURSE, THAT BLESSING FROM GOD FOR MANY, MANY STUDENT NURSES. [/

Hi Norie, welcome to BellaOnline's forums.

Just one little tip; typing in all caps is what is called "shouting" on forums. It makes it very hard to read what someone has written because the eye has no chance to rest between letters, and it cannot tell where one sentence has stopped and another started.

Now back to the topic...



This reminds me a lot of what happens in both highs school and college, LOL! The Freshmen come into the big, new school and are hazed by the Seniors, and for no other reason than because that is what was done to them and "it is payback time". (You have to hear the voice of a teenage boy in your head drawling that out to properly appreciate it!)

I've never understood that. Wouldn't compassion mean that people would say, "I was treated so horribly. I never want anyone to feel the way I felt." ?

Of course, we don't live in a very compassionate world anymore.

Norie, what a beautiful story! We need more nurses like "Pat". It seems so unnecessary that we treat our fledgling nurses so poorly, when we should really be role modeling caring. Thanks so much for that inspiring story!

I'm not a nurse but when I saw this forum title "eating your young" I just had to peek in to eavesdrop.

I have to say that I've developed such intense respect for nurses. We gained a daughter-in-law in 2001 who was a neo-natal nurse at Long Beach Memorial in California. That hospital sees just a bit of problems with patients--OK, huge amount of drugs, neglect, alcoholic parents, etc. In listening to some of her stories I am amazed. She's now case manager though for Kaiser Bellflower in California in the neonatal department.

Now, our own daughter has graduated nursing school and is a registered nurse since June 2008. She's a pediatric ICU nurse in Las Vegas. Again, that's an area that the stories abound in things that happen.

Both our daughter and daughter-in-law have such compassion for those they take care of. Nikki has always kept pictures on her refrigerator of "her" babies from neonatal. Now, my daughter constantly shares her compassion with me in worrying about the welfare of those she cares for.

Nursing is very underrated and deserves far more respect. In the not so distant future, our daughter is trying to become a teacher in the nursing program.

It is very inspiring that people dedicate their lives to this profession. I think my heart would break after I dealt with abuse victims, especially children ...

One of the things that experienced nurses forget about being a new grad is that they follow the rules to the letter. There is no gray zone for them. The ability to think critically comes with experience, so they have to stay within the limits of what they have been taught. Many seasoned nurses view this as a weakness, rather than recognizing it as a safety mechanism. I had a staff nurse criticize a newer nurse for holding a medication when the heart rate was 59 bpm. The order stated to hold it for any heart rate less than 60 bpm. This is the type of thing where caring and perspective make a big difference in the lesson learned.